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Tag Archives: Black Cuillins

While on a holiday to Isle of Skye last year, it started to rain very heavily one morning and there was a windy storm. We were camping in the foothills of Cuillins and our tent was at the verge of knocking off and flying away from the ground. We had no choice but to get up, come out of tent and run some place where we have shelter on top of our head. We packed(wrong word, infact we dumped) everything into the car and decided to utilize this rainy day for a visit to Talisker Distillery in Carbost, Isle of Skye.

Ash is a whisky fan and he loves visiting distilleries to see what all process and efforts go in to to make that bottle of whisky.

Talisker is the only and oldest distillery on this island, that started in 1830 by Hugh and Kenneth Macaskill. It is located on the shores of Loch Harport in the village of Carbost, on the beautiful Minginish Peninsula, with enchanted views of the Black Cuillins. The location of the distillery works in its favour as Talisker’s water comes from springs directly above the distillery. More than half of the work force that works at the distillery is from the family owns the business, generation after generation took the ownership & pride in the family business.

The distillery operates five stills- two wash stills and three spirit stills. All the stills use worm tubs rather than a modern condenser, which are believed to give the whisky a “fuller” flavour. Now a days , the whisky is produced using conventional double distilling.

The team at distillery organises tour as well and they are lovely bunch of people who will answer to all your questions. At the end of the tour, you will get to taste some of their finest whiskies too. During the peak summer times, you might have to book a tour in advance if you are looking for a particular time, else there are ample no. of tours that runs around whole day. At the end you can buy some whiskies for your family, friends and ofcourse for yourself 🙂

Fairy Pools, an another mystical place in Isle of Skye, it lies at the foot of black cuillins near Glenbrittle.It’s a pool of crystal blue water on the river brittle. As the name suggest this place is to be believed a pool of fairies. I have not seen any during my visit, but place itself is so magical that it will make you wonder and may be believe that after all fairy must have lived here.

Many people around the world visit this famous pool to experience wild swimming and stunning landscape around.

Me and my husband also visited Fairypool on a summer evening in June, it was partly cloudy and sunny weather, I was sure that I am not finishing this holiday without visiting this pool.

How to get there- The nearest village to the Fairy Pools is Carbost on the West of Skye, the start of the walk is on the road to Glenbrittle. You will notice a sign board for Fairy Pools on the way, and there is a free car park as well.

Weather- It rains almost all the year around in Isle of Skye.If you are the lucky one you may choose to visit this place on a dry day. Do not forget water will be icy cold, so you might want to carry a swim suit with you.

From the carpark, you will cross the road to opposite side with impressive views out towards the Black Cuillins, the source of the River Brittle. Your walk to fairy pool will start from the point, short walk to the first pools follows a gravel path that is in good condition most of the way, but does involve river crossings over stepping stones. It takes about 20 minutes to get the first and largest waterfall that marks the start of the pools. You can explore the pool in your own time as there are several of them some are very deep, some are shallow.

Me and my husband took dip in couple of pools, but as water was cold and it was getting dark and misty we head back to car park after spending a good hour over there.

Isle of Skye has no shortages of picturesque villages, get-away for a calm and quiet holiday, local food, lakes, mountains. Elgol is one such village lies on the shore of river Scavaig, with holiday cottages, wild camping sites, two restaurants and boat trip services to near by islands. You want to be away from city commotion, pack a bag pack and stay in Elgol for that peace, stroll around the shore. One of the many beautiful places in Isle.